Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
83 Clarence Street, Ballymena BT43 5DR
Rev. Angus Stewart
Lord’s Day, 31 May, 2026
“Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone,
a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste” (Isa. 28:16)
Morning Service – 11:00 AM
Christ’s Ascension Into Heaven in the Psalms [youtube]
Scripture Reading: Psalm 24; 47; 68:15-20
Text: Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 18
I. Psalm 24
II. Psalm 47
III. Psalm 68
Psalms: 24:5-10; 22:27-31; 47:1-9; 68:16-20
Evening Service – 6:00 PM
The Moral Foundations of the Church [youtube]
Scripture Reading: I Samuel 26
Text: Psalm 11
I. The Foundations Destroyed
II. The Foundations Asserted
Psalms: 18:1-7; 23:1-6; 5:4-10; 11:1-7
For CDs of the sermons and DVDs of the worship services, contact Stephen Murray
If you desire a pastoral visit, please contact Rev. Stewart or the elders
CPRC Website: www.cprc.co.uk • Live Webcast: www.cprc.co.uk/live-streaming
CPRC YouTube: www.youtube.com/cprcni
CPRC Facebook: www.facebook.com/CovenantPRC
Quotes to Consider
Herman Hoeksema on Lord’s Day 18: “‘Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear’ (Acts 2:33). In that Spirit He is ever present with us. And that presence is full of grace. Through the Spirit He is gracious to us, causes us to taste His grace, and makes us partakers of all the blessings of grace He merited for us … This, then, is the nature of the presence of our ascended Lord. And this presence is constant. He never leaves us. We may not be, and are not always conscious of this blessed nearness of the God of our salvation, but His presence never fails. We may wander far away sometimes, as sheep that go astray, so that we are quite oblivious of His presence; but He never forgets us, neither forsakes us. Nor does He ever fail to bring us back from our evil wanderings to the blessedness of His fellowship. But in the measure that we live by faith, hear His Word, walk in His way, we also experience that Christ, the ascended Lord, as respects His Godhead, majesty, grace and Spirit, is ever present with us. The consciousness of that presence is the joy of faith” (The Triple Knowledge, vol. 2, pp. 67-68).
Martin Luther: “[Psalm 11:5: ‘the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth’] is spoken emphatically, in that the prophet does not simply say that God hates, but his soul hates, thereby declaring that God hates the wicked in a high degree, and with his whole heart.”
Announcements (subject to God’s will)
Tuesday Bible study meets this week at 11 AM to continue with Paul missionary journeys, looking at Acts 14
We will be arranging dates and times for family vistation in the weeks ahead. Please make every effort to accommodate the arrangements.
The Reformed Witness Hour broadcast next Lord’s day (Gospel 846 MW at 8:30 AM) by Rev. Spriensma is entitled “Enlarge the Place of Thy Tent” (Isa. 54:1-2).
The Council meets next week Monday night (8 June) at 7 PM.
BRF Conference: Final payments for this year’s conference are due!
Offerings: £962.68.
Translation Additions: 9 Burmese (now all the articles in all 25 issues of volume I of the Covenant Reformed News are on-line in Burmese), 2 Hungarian, 4 Polish, 2 Spanish and 2 Urdu.
PRC News: Hope PRC (Redlands) called Rev. Bleyenberg. Southwest PRC will call from a new trio of Rev. D. Holstege, Rev. Maatman and Prof. Gritters. Calvary PRC formed a trio of Revs. Maatman, D. Holstege and Smidstra. Grace PRC will call from a trio of Revs. D. Holstege, Kleyn and Smidstra.
Into Heaven Itself
Herman Hoeksema, an excerpt from an article in the Standard Bearer, vol. 23, issue 16
“For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us” (Heb. 9:24).
… Into heaven itself! And this is contrasted to entering into “the holy places made with hands, the figures of the true.”
The original for “holy places” is simply “the holies”. And the reference is, evidently, to the holy of holies of the earthly tabernacle and temple. For the same expression is used in the eighth verse of this same chapter, where it is properly rendered by “the holiest of all.” And again, that this is the proper meaning of the expression in verse eight is evident from its connection with the seventh verse, where this same “holies” is called “the second,” and, finally, with the third verse: “And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all,” where the original has “the holies of holies.”
The entire sanctuary of the old dispensation was holy, because it was the sanctuary of Jehovah, His dwelling place, where everything was exclusively consecrated to His covenant with His people, and to His service.
Holy was the outer court, with its altar of burnt offering. Holy was “the first tabernacle,” the holy place, where stood the golden altar of incense, the golden candlestick, and the table of shewbread.
But most holy was the “second tabernacle,” behind the veil. To it all the rest of the earthly sanctuary pointed. From that “holiest of all” the whole of the temple and tabernacle derived its meaning. Without it there was no sanctuary. All the service of the tabernacle was performed with a view to that holiest of all. It alone gave meaning to the sacrifices. Because of it, the incense burnt upon the golden altar, the light of the golden lamp, the loaves on the table of shewbread, as well as the blood that was sprinkled on the horns of the altar in the outer court, had their significance. For there, in the holiest of all, stood the ark of the covenant, with its mercy seat; there was the Shekinah, that wonderful symbol of the presence; there God dwelled between the cherubim.
Into that holiest of all the high priest entered, once a year, to sprinkle the blood of atonement upon the mercy seat before the face of God!
However, this “holiest of all” was made with hands!
By this, that it was made with hands, it was chiefly characterized. And this means that it was purely local, limited, material, temporal, perishable. It was not spiritual, though it witnessed of spiritual realities; it was not universal, though it looked forward to all-embracing things; it was not for all the people, even though for them the high priest entered with the blood of atonement; it was not eternal, though it was a picture of the eternal covenant of God with His people; it was not everlasting, the veil could be rent, the sanctuary could be destroyed, even though it pointed to the everlasting tabernacle of God with men.
It was not reality itself.
Plainly it testified that the way into the real sanctuary was not yet made manifest.
Even the high priest, though he entered into the holiest with the blood of atonement, could not abide within the veil. Only for a moment might he remain, sufficiently long to serve the shadows, then he, too, must retreat again, back into the court. And every year he must enter anew to repeat the atonement of reconciliation, for himself and all the people.
But Christ entered into heaven itself!
Not into the holiest made with hands, local, limited, material, temporal, perishable, the figure of the true, did He enter.
In fact, He never entered at all into that holiest. Into it, He had no access. For our Lord was not of the tribe of Levi, still less of the house of Aaron. Into the earthly sanctuary He might not enter. In the holies made with hands, He had no right to minister.
He entered into the reality that was foreshadowed by the sanctuary made with hands. Into heaven itself!
Into heaven! And that means here: into the real Holiest! It signifies that, as the old dispensational high priest, once a year, entered into the holiest, where God dwelled in a figure, so Christ entered into the very presence of God.
For that is the meaning of heaven, its very essence!
O, to be sure, heaven is not a mere idea. It is not to be so spiritualized that there is nothing left of it. It is a place, a part of God’s creation. It is “above”, although its distance from us dare not be measured in millions of miles. It is the place where the angels dwell, and where are the saints that have gone before, whither also Christ, in His glorified human nature ascended.
He entered into that place on the fortieth day after His resurrection from the dead.
From Mount Olivet, in the sight of His disciples, He departed from them, into heaven. They knew that He had finally departed from them, and that, for a time, they would see Him no more. Repeatedly, during those wonderful forty days after He had risen from the dead, He appeared to them, only to disappear again. For He was with them no more as before His death and resurrection. Yet, during those forty days, they always expected to see Him again, after every appearance. But on that fortieth day, He led them to the Mount of Olives, and “while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.” And heavenly messengers explained to them, as they stood gazing up into heaven, that “this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” They knew that He had departed, from earth into heaven, and that here they would see Him no more.
The ascension means that the Son of God, in human nature, who had come into the flesh, and descended into the nethermost parts of the earth, had departed from our world, to enter into another abode, the highest heavens.
From one place, Mount Olivet, He moved to another place, the place of heavenly glory.
Yet, after all due emphasis is placed upon the reality of heaven, and the truth of Jesus’ local ascension into glory, it must be emphasized no less that the text here refers to heaven, not from the viewpoint of its being the place of glory in the outward sense of the word, but rather from the aspect of its spiritual idea and essence. It is the original of that of which the earthly tabernacle was but the figure; the reality of which the sanctuary made with hands was but the figure. It is the dwelling place of God, the highest possible realization of the covenant of friendship. In heaven is God’s face. There is His presence. Even as the earthly sanctuary, made with hands, was but an imperfect, local, material, temporal, and perishable figure of the true holiest; so heaven is its perfect, all-embracing, spiritual, everlasting, and imperishable realization. Heaven means that God dwells with us, that He causes us to know Him as we are known, to see Him face to face, to enter into His secret fellowship, into the most intimate communion with the God of our salvation. It is the house of the Father!
It is the heavenly perfection of God’s eternal covenant of friendship: the tabernacle of God with men! …
